Siege of Patavium (271)

The Siege of Patavium occurred in January 271 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. The invading Legio I Dacica, led by the imperial claimant Aurelian, captured the city of Patavium (now Padua) from its garrison, which was loyal to the pretender emperor Quintillus. Patavium was the first Italian city to fall to Aurelian's invading army.

Background
Following the death of Emperor Claudius Gothicus in 270 AD, his brother Quintullus was chosen by the Roman Senate to succeed him. However, the Roman legions in Pannonia acclaimed their commander, Aurelian, as emperor, and all of North Africa, the Balkans, Anatolia, and the Danube provinces pledged allegiance to Aurelian and his regional allies. Aurelian had to fight to claim the Roman throne, as Quintullus still controlled the Italian peninsula and its legions.

In late 270 AD, Aurelian bolstered the strength of his Legio I Dacica before leaving Sarmizegetusa, the capital of the province of Dacia; he later raised Legio IV Pannonica to continue defending the Danube provinces. He then marched southwest into Veneto, reaching Italy in January 271 AD. The first city standing in his way was the defenseless city of Patavium (now Padua), which was garrisoned by 440 troops under Decimus Socellius Pavo.

Battle
Aurelian's larger army marched into position in the center of the battlefield, while Pavo's smaller force was arrayed in a column. Aurelian took advantage of Pavo's inferior numbers and poor deployment strategy by having his wings close in on Pavo's flanks, and the garrison army was quickly routed with heavy losses; the garrison's entire strength was either killed or captured. Aurelian proceeded to occupy Patavium, his first conquest during his campaign in Italy.